


Utter Indifference

by telperion_15



Category: Primeval
Genre: Anger, Angst, Developing Relationship, Locked In, M/M, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-12
Updated: 2012-02-12
Packaged: 2017-10-31 01:11:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/338260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/telperion_15/pseuds/telperion_15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lester and Becker are stuck together in Lester's office.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Utter Indifference

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Joe_Reaves](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joe_Reaves/gifts).



> Originally written as a birthday fic for joereaves, for the prompt 'Lester/one or more of the soldiers, trapped'.
> 
> Spoilers for episode 4.03.

Lester tutted and glared impotently out through the glass walls of his office.  
  
Really, hadn’t Temple learned from last week’s little lockdown incident, where he’d so very nearly killed his _other_ boss? Although, if one was being charitable, one could concede that that had been at least half Philip’s fault. Or maybe even more than half…  
  
In any case, it appeared that there were still a few ‘glitches’ in the security system that required fixing, and in the meantime it also appeared that Lester was going to be stuck in his office, a state of affairs he didn’t much appreciate. Yes, Lester spent a lot of time in there anyway, but it was one thing to be there because you chose to be, and quite another to be there because you couldn’t actually leave.  
  
“So how long do you think we’re going to be in here, then?”  
  
And that was the other thing that made this situation somewhat unpalatable – the presence of Captain Becker, who’d stopped by to talk to Lester, and then been interrupted in the middle of his first sentence by wailing sirens, flashing lights, and conspicuously closing doors.  
  
Closing doors that had trapped them. Together. In Lester’s office.  
  
 _Bloody wonderful._  
  
“Who can tell?” replied Lester to Becker’s question. “I find, when it comes to Mr. Temple, trying to predict the outcome of a sequence of events is inevitably futile. We could be in here for five minutes, or five hours.”  
  
He glanced through the glass again, to where Connor was frantically working at a computer. No one else was in sight, including Jess, who should have been at the anomaly detector, and Abby, who was invariably to be found somewhere in Connor’s vicinity.  
  
They were probably stuck together in the ladies’ loos, giggling and gossiping. Lester’s nose wrinkled at the very thought.  
  
As if he could sense Lester’s eyes on him, Connor turned suddenly, and hurried over to the office. He knocked on the glass, and then shouted something.  
  
 _“Are you all right?”_  
  
“We’re perfectly fine, Mr. Temple,” Lester replied, not bothering to raise his voice.  
  
Connor looked confused for a moment, and then grinned when Becker gave him a clarifying thumbs-up.  
  
 _“Great. Just sit tight. I should have you out of there in a jiffy.”_  
  
“Where exactly does he think we’re going to go?” Lester said, as Connor went back to his computer.  
  
Becker just grinned, and Lester sighed. “I think it would be advisable to resign ourselves to the fact we will be in here for quite a while. Temple’s idea of a ‘jiffy’ doesn’t often correspond to anyone else’s.”  
  
“We should probably find some way to amuse ourselves, then,” Becker said. “We could play I-Spy? Or what about twenty questions? Rock, paper, scissors? Or we could even just talk.”  
  
“You may amuse yourself however you wish,” said Lester stiffly, well aware that the reason Becker had come to his office in the first place was to ‘talk’. “I, however, will be getting on with some work. So if you wouldn’t mind staying quiet, I would appreciate it.”  
  
“Your wish is my command,” said Becker, although somehow the words weren’t reassuring.  
  
Lester turned his attention back to his computer, determined not to waste any time worrying about the predicament he found himself in. Becker was true to his word, remaining quiet and still in the chair on the opposite side of Lester’s desk. But Lester just knew, even as he pointedly kept his eyes off the soldier, that Becker would be smirking, and most likely thinking thoughts that were completely inappropriate, given the situation.  
  
He successfully managed to ignore the other man for twenty minutes, but when Becker snorted softly, apparently at nothing (although Lester knew better), he gave in and threw his pen down on to the desk.  
  
“Fine,” he snapped. “What do you want to talk about?”  
  
Becker’s smirk (Lester had been correct about that, at any rate) widened. “How about last night?” he said.  
  
“Last night is something I am already coming to regret, and therefore, as far as I am concerned, the subject is closed,” said Lester.  
  
“I don’t believe you,” Becker sing-songed.  
  
“That is not my problem.”  
  
“Self-delusion _is_ your problem, though,” said Becker. “You certainly can’t deny that you enjoyed yourself at the time, can you?”  
  
“No,” replied Lester reluctantly. “But we both know it shouldn’t have happened, and I think we should just leave it at that.”  
  
“Then you don’t want it to happen again?”  
  
“No, I don’t. And I know that you won’t believe that either.”  
  
“I don’t believe that because it’s not true.”  
  
Becker scooted his chair closer, until their knees were practically touching under the desk. Lester glanced uneasily towards Connor, who luckily still had his back to them as he worked furiously at his terminal.  
  
“This isn’t appropriate, Captain,” he said sternly.  
  
“You enjoyed yourself last night, James,” said Becker, ignoring Lester’s admonition. “You enjoyed me sucking your cock and then giving you a nice hard fucking. Didn’t you?”  
  
“Please be quiet,” Lester said, hating the slightly pleading note that had entered his voice. It wasn’t that he thought Connor, or anyone else, could hear them, but listening to Becker saying those things wasn’t doing anything for his composure, and he was damned if he was going to admit that the soldier’s words were having an effect on him.  
  
“Who knew you’d be so good at taking it up the arse? But then, I bet a lot of that goes on in the civil service – I bet it’s one of the requirements for a promotion. I wonder if…”  
  
“ _Shut. Up!_ ” Lester hissed. Abruptly, he pushed himself away from the desk and stood up. The office wasn’t large, but he walked to the other side of it and stared out of the window, getting as far away from Becker as he could.  
  
He was furious with himself for reacting so vehemently, but he’d spent all day trying, unsuccessfully, to forget about last night, and now he was being forced to confront it head on.  
  
“James?” Becker’s voice sounded tentative, apologetic. “James, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… I was just trying to get a rise out of you, that’s all.”  
  
“Well, it worked, so are you happy now?” Lester said, without turning around.  
  
“No. I didn’t want this to happen. It’s just…it’s so bloody hard to ruffle your feathers sometimes. I managed it last night, though, and I wanted to see that James Lester again. The one underneath the suit and the snark.”  
  
“Congratulations on your achievement,” said Lester flatly.  
  
“James, I really am sorry.”  
  
“Please stop saying that,” Lester snapped. He walked quickly back to his desk and sat down again, avoiding catching Becker’s eye the entire time.  
  
“What’s going on?” Becker sounded suspicious. “This is about more than you being bothered that someone’s discovered you’re actually a human being, isn’t it?”  
  
Lester didn’t reply.  
  
“James, what is it? What’s the matter?”  
  
“I can’t do this, is what’s the matter,” said Lester suddenly, hating himself for giving in again, but knowing that Becker wasn’t going to let it go. “Do you have _any_ idea what a precarious position we’re in here, Captain? Do you know how many sharks are circling, just waiting to catch the scent of blood? I can’t do _anything_ to jeopardise my position here, do you understand? And I think sleeping with a subordinate would most definitely fall into that category.”  
  
“But they put you back in charge…” Becker began.  
  
“They put me _and_ Burton in charge,” Lester corrected him. “And Philip would just love an excuse to get rid of me. Then he could have this place – this project – all to himself. And trust me, you don’t want that.”  
  
“So you’re going to sacrifice anything that could make you happy for the good of this project, then?”  
  
“If I have to, yes. It’s too important not to.”  
  
When Becker didn’t immediately respond to that, Lester risked a quick look at him. He was somewhat nonplussed (although he didn’t show it, naturally), to see that Becker was smiling.  
  
“Do you find my heroic self-sacrifice amusing in some way, Captain?”  
  
“Not in the slightest,” said Becker seriously, although the smile didn’t leave his face. “But you do realise what you’ve just admitted, don’t you?”  
  
Lester mentally reviewed the preceding exchange in his head, and felt his heart sink.  
  
“I admit nothing,” he said loftily.  
  
“You admitted that what happened last night made you happy. You admitted that _I_ could make you happy.”  
  
“I think it was fairly obvious at the time that last night made me happy,” said Lester. “You were there, after all.”  
  
“I was definitely there,” Becker agreed.  
  
“But whether all this,” Lester gestured between himself and Becker, “does or does not make me happy is irrelevant. It _cannot_ happen again.”  
  
“Why not?” asked Becker. Then he held up a hand to forestall Lester’s protest. “Yes, I know, circling sharks, scenting blood, and all that. But what if we don’t give them any blood to scent? You don’t want Burton to find out? So we won’t let him find out. I’m sure we’ve both kept plenty of secrets in our time – it sort of comes with the line of work. What’s one more?”  
  
“But…”  
  
“I’m pretty sure I can carry on pretending not to like you very much, and I’m certain that you can feign utter indifference towards me. No one has to know anything about us.”  
  
“And what if…?”  
  
“Oh no. No ‘what ifs’, James. I just want a yes or no. Are you in or are you out?”  
  
Lester glared at him. Common sense – something that Lester prided himself on possessing in abundance – was shouting at him very loudly to say no. But as he hesitated, something else – emotion, probably, he thought disgustedly to himself – quietly and thoroughly steamrollered that common sense into submission and then did a small victory dance on top of the flattened remains.  
  
“All right, yes,” he said.  
  
Becker started to grin, but the expression faded when Lester suddenly waved him away imperiously and said, “Now do sit down and shut up, you’re affecting my concentration far too much.”  
  
“What are you doing?” Becker muttered, nonetheless doing what he was told – at least partly.  
  
Lester didn’t answer, but instead inclined his head minutely towards the window, where Connor was standing looking in at them, with Philip Burton right behind him. Understanding quickly dawned on Becker’s face, and was then just as hurriedly smoothed away.  
  
“ _Sorted it, guys!_ ” Connor shouted through the glass, and then dashed round to the office door and pulled it open.  
  
“It’s about time,” said Lester. “I was beginning to feel a little claustrophobic, and Captain Becker here is hardly the most scintillating of conversationalists.”  
  
“Rest assured, James, it won’t happen again,” said Philip smoothly. “Connor here has worked out the rest of kinks in the system, and it should only work when it’s supposed to from now on.”  
  
“I’m very glad to hear it. Now perhaps we could all get on with something a little more _constructive_ , and stop wasting my time?”  
  
Philip chuckled, and Connor looked sheepish. Lester very pointedly did _not_ look at Becker as he got up again from his chair and followed Philip from the room. Connor, however, seemed rather confused by the soldier’s parting statement.  
  
“Don’t worry, Lester, I’ll keep an eye out for sharks.”  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
Some hours later, Lester looked up as Becker made a frustrated noise.  
  
The sight that met his eyes was definitely a pleasing one. Becker lay on the bed, hands cuffed to the frame above his head, cock resting against his belly, hard and red and leaking.  
  
“Problem, Captain?” he asked mildly.  
  
Becker whimpered, although no doubt he’d claim later it was a very _manly_ whimper.  
  
“Come on, James. What are you _doing_ over there?”  
  
Lester swirled the glass of brandy in his hand, and took an appreciative sip, savouring the flavour and the warmth that spread through his chest. Then he raised an eyebrow at his captive. “Why, I’m feigning utter indifference, of course. Isn’t that what we agreed?”


End file.
